I arrived in Siem Reap on Sunday and met up with the rest of the volunteer crew. We learned we'd be building houses for two young families under the supervision of the Volunteer Building Cambodia foremen. Our team started by tearing down the house one of the families was living in (the family on the right in the photo below). That only took 45 minutes and repeated shaking off the insects that were also living there and falling out as the walls and roof came down.
I spent most of the day painting my pants, shirt, hat, gloves and also some siding that will go on the house. There are only two VBC builders and the rest of the helpers are people in the neighborhood. Our favorites are a badass grandma and a man we have dubbed Paris Fashion Week because of his Coco Chanel bucket hat and sunglasses. After our crew leaves around noon, these people keep working to make sure we're on track for the 4 day schedule.
Day two started with a blessing before the ground breaking so that it would be a safe build for everyone. Too bad that didn't happen on day one when two of the volunteers had to go to the clinic - one for severe dehydration and the other to get 4 stitches in a cut on her arm. They are both okay now and it was an excellent scared straight way to remind us all to stay hydrated and be careful.
After the blessing, we raised the frame that was assembled while we were visiting the Hero Rats at APOPO. More on that coming up on Feel Good Friday. I spent the rest of the morning painting, varnishing shutters, and helping build scaffolding. It's all going very quickly and I can't wait to see what gone done after we left today.
We finished our day with a visit to the market and a cooking class where we made spring rolls, chicken amok and pumpkin custard inside pumpkins. All very delicious.
The photo dump is below. I'll add photos of me as I get them from other people. In the meantime, please enjoy the stylings of Paris Fashion Week.
Posts
